ENGLEWOOD — A 20-year-old man was shot and killed in Englewood Wednesday afternoon, on one of the blocks where a so-called "army of moms" has been patrolling in an effort to deter violence since late June.
On June 29, Mothers Against Senseless Killings set up shop on the corners of 75th and Stewart and 75th and Harvard to prevent retaliatory shootings after a fatal shooting that killed 34-year-old Lucille Barnes.
Since they began their nightly patrol starting around 4 p.m. each day, there had been no shootings on either block, until Wednesday.
A 20-year-old man was shot in his neck around 1:22 p.m. in the 7400 block of South Harvard Avenue, according to Officer Thomas Sweeney, a Chicago Police spokesman. He was taken to Christ Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Sweeney said.
Dwayne L. Thomas, of the 7000 block of South Harvard Avenue, was pronounced dead at 2:09 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
"He was loved by everybody," said the 20-year-old's stepfather, who was visibly upset and had blood on his pants and hands Wednesday. He did not give his name.
Chatham resident Adriyanna Barne, 20, said she was friends with Thomas. He was shot in front of his mom's house, Barne said.
Barne added that she knows of the "army of moms," and that they cook for the homeless, do yoga and hand out fliers on the street. "They were really doing good," and the gun violence was "way worse" before they began their patrols, with about a shooting every two weeks, she said. "They shouldn't let nobody stop them."
Barne said Thomas was a fun person, and she and her friends would drink some Hennessey in his honor, since it was his favorite drink.
"A mother's love is selfless, annoying and always there," said Tamar Manasseh, one of the organizers, when the patrols began. "This is what mothers do best, get in the way."
In July, Manasseh said her group was doggedly keeping up the effort, but running short on manpower. "What we've learned since we've been out here is that people's attention spans are short. It's hard to keep their interests between tragedies."
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Below: Map depicts shootings from June 29, 2015 to August 19, 2015 in Englewood.
See our map of every shooting in Chicago since 2010.
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